Perhaps because the letter hadn't stayed in her possession for long, the rest of the journey was still troubleso but no longer truly dangerous.
She arrived at the Lihuo Beacon on ti and handed the letter to Smoke Tune.
The mont the delivery was completed, another notification sounded in her mind.
You have beco a full Postman. You can now see the Postman rank of other Postn.
Just as she was about to leave, Smoke Tune stopped her and placed another order, asking her to bring a letter back to Cicada on her return trip.
An easy job and easy money. Of course Rita accepted.
It was also a chance to test her newly obtained Wealth Managent skill. She even planned to use the earnings from these two deliveries to invest in Cicada's business in Thorn Royal City—though whether Cicada would agree was another matter.
She didn't know how long she would remain in this fairy tale, but she had no intention of wasting ti.
What if this entire story was tied to the skill she was ant to comprehend?
After a full day and night of delivery, her body in this world was utterly exhausted. She rested for a night at an inn near Smoke Tune's residence, then picked up the new letter at dawn.
And so, on the morning of the fourth day inside the fairy tale, Rita set off back toward Thorn Royal City.
Even though she was starting to feel anxious, even though she traveled nonstop just like before, she only arrived on the morning of the fifth day.
Passing through District 21, she finally understood what it ant to "see other Postn's ranks."
Every Postman had a small glowing marker floating near their shoulder—C, B, A, S…
She had one too. Hers was A.
So Postman rank corresponded to the rank of their Postman skill?
No wonder everyone in District 21 could imdiately tell who was a Postman.
Rita didn't dwell on it. She ran through District 21 and headed straight for Cicada's flower shop in District 25.
If Cicada wasn't there, she would search nearby.
If she couldn't find her within two days, she had the right to destroy the undelivered letter.
The shop was easy to find, right next to the Celebration Tavern where she had picked up the previous letter.
Following the scent of flowers, Rita quickened her pace—
And almost collided with soone stepping out of the tavern.
Almost.
Both of them reacted at the last second and avoided the collision.
Rita relied on her reflexes.
The other person was lifted slightly backward by a gust of wind.
"Sorry, I was running too—"
Rita stopped mid-sentence.
She saw the person's face.
And her outfit.
Black wavy hair. Black overalls. A whip at her waist.
The sa Postman who had stood in front of Lynx Duke's table.
Zoey.
Rita's gaze imdiately shifted to Zoey's right shoulder.
SS.
Zoey smiled lightly, said "It's fine," and walked away.
Rita stood there for a mont, staring toward the flower shop, lost in thought.
Then she suddenly turned and walked into the Celebration Tavern.
Right as she stepped in, she ran into Lynx Duke walking out.
In that instant—
Ti stopped.
The noise of the tavern vanished.
Everyone froze mid-motion.
Only the wine continued to pour, spilling over cups and onto the table.
Rita could still move.
So could Lynx Duke.
The elf walked toward her without even glancing in her direction.
But just as they passed each other, Lynx Duke placed a hand on her shoulder.
"A gift for you."
You have obtained a special Postman skill: Deprivation
Deprivation (Special): Select a Postman. Without cost or conditions, you may directly take their Postman skill as your own.
Then Lynx Duke left.
The tavern's noise returned all at once.
A gift?
Or a seed of darkness.
It felt like history repeating itself.
Back then, she had been A rank Acting, while Zoey had been S rank Holy Light.
They had been mortal enemies.
Now, they were strangers.
District 21 was vast. In this story's mories, Zoey didn't exist in her life at all.
Dark Fairy Tale Progress: 4%
Rita paused.
Had she just thought about using the skill on Zoey?
She wasn't even sure anymore.
Dark Fairy Tale Progress: 4.1%
4.2%
4.3%
Every five seconds, the percentage increased by 0.1.
Rita forced herself to ignore the notification.
She delivered the letter to Cicada next door and brought up the investnt idea.
Perhaps because the dark progress was still low, Cicada readily agreed despite not lacking money and even offered a fair contract.
When Rita left the flower shop, it was already noon of the fifth day.
Dark Fairy Tale Progress: 7.6%
She was certain—
She had never intended to take Zoey's SS rank skill.
It wasn't worth it.
This was just a fairy tale.
She had seen too many powerful abilities. Her standards weren't that low.
Snatching it would be like a veteran stealing candy from a child.
But precisely because she didn't want it—
She was breaking character.
This version of Rita desperately craved power.
An A rank Wealth Managent skill that couldn't even ensure survival wasn't enough.
An SS rank skill was right in front of her, and she didn't take it.
So the story drifted toward darkness.
The simplest solution was obvious.
Take it.
But fairy tales rewarded goodness and punished greed.
If she used this "gift" to steal soone else's ability, what would the story beco?
No matter what she chose, it seed to lead toward ruin.
Lynx Duke definitely knew her past.
Knew the story of that tiline.
So what did she want to see?
Did she want to see what choice Rita would make when facing an innocent version of a forr enemy?
Or did she want to see whether Rita could still achieve sothing after giving up a powerful talent?
Perhaps the smartest move was to wait.
Once the darkness rose high enough, everything could be twisted into a conspiracy.
For example—
Zoey appearing at the sa ti might not be coincidence.
Maybe she had prior knowledge.
Maybe soone had used a Postman skill to secure this opportunity for her.
With the right justification, Rita could "rightfully" take the skill.
Then it wouldn't be theft.
It would be justice.
But there was no need.
That kind of story…
Was boring.
And boring stories were not fairy tales.
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